11 courses with the subject POLS GU, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
POLS GU4240Great Books on Race, Politics and Society4
This seminar introduces students to classic works on race, social science, and public policy. The course will explore how social scientists have defined and constructed the conditions of black communities and how those definitions and constructions have varied and influenced policy debates over time. Students are required to write an original research paper on a policy area that examines the tensions between individual and structural explanations for the persistence of racial inequality. Spring 2026: POLS GU4240 Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment POLS 4240 001/12607 Th 12:10pm - 2:00pm 711 International Affairs Bldg Fredrick Harris 4 5/20
This course will be taught in Chinese. This course focuses on the evolution of Chinese politics since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in 1949. It introduces and discusses the relationship between the two “three decades” (the three decades under Mao and the three decades of “reform and opening up”). More specifically, the course aims to (1) clarify some important historical facts, (2) analyze the ideological consideration of the “official” history sanctioned by the CCP and its epistemological impact, (3) make a comparison between official view and that of independent scholars about the history; (4) try to respond to some urgent problems faced by contemporary China, and (5) provide suggestions and principles for the reconstruction of the historiography of contemporary China. Students will learn how to understand the recent development Chinese politics, how to analyze the complex contemporary history and reality of China, and how to approach issues about China from a systematic perspective.
POLS GU4409Political Activism and Social Movements3
How do ordinary citizens participate in democratic politics? The course examines main concepts in the comparative study of political participation and social and political movements to address this question. The first part of the course focuses on normative and methodological aspects related to the study of political activism. In this part, we examine the role that citizens’ political activism plays in democratic politics and look at how these normative views are reflected in the methods used to study political activism (individual and organizational surveys, protest event analysis, participant observation). In the second part of the course, we focus on the individual-level political participation. Here we discuss various modes of political action available to citizens of contemporary democracies and examine micro-, meso-, macro-factors that determine people’s willingness to get involved in politics. The third part of the course focuses on the meso-level of political actors that organize and coordinate people’s political activism – social movements, interest groups and civil society organizations. This part of the course discusses the role of organizational resources, strategic action repertoire, political opportunities and framing and campaigning strategies of mobilizing actors.
Prerequisites: Course in European history or political science or relevant comparative politics courses. Prerequisites: Course in European history or political science or relevant comparative politics courses. This is an upper-level course in European political development. It is designed for undergraduates who already have some exposure to European history and politics and graduate students. The course will analyze important theoretical works, and debates about, the evolution of European political systems and institutions since the Second World War and place the European experience in comparative perspective
This course offers a historical and thematic survey of Chinese politics and of salient issues in China’s public policy and governance. The first half of the course reviews the patterns and dynamics of political development in China, focusing mainly on the last two hundred years, during which the country has been on a rugged yet fascinating path toward modernity. We will examine major political events including the collapse of the Imperial China, the rise of the Communist Party, the Cultural Revolution, and the post-Mao shift toward reform and opening. The second half of the course will look various special topics, including the structure of the party and the state, the relationship between state and society, the modes of economic development, and the governance of the media and the Internet. Throughout the course, special attention will be paid to how China’s domestic political and economic processes intersected with major world events and transnational forces, such as imperialism, world wars, and economic globalization
This course surveys key features of the Japanese political system, with a focus on political institutions and processes. Themes include party politics, bureaucratic power, the role of the Diet, voting behavior, the role of the state in the economy, and the domestic politics of foreign policy
POLS GU4473Political Transitions in Southeast Asia4
What political direction is Southeast Asia taking? Over the past two decades, Indonesia has been transformed from a military-dominated semi-authoritarian state to the region’s most vigorous and open political order. Meanwhile Thailand has experienced two military coups since 2006, and early patterns of political liberalization seem to be unraveling. And Burma has gone from international pariah to prospective new democracy. Is it possible to see any overall regional trends? Are teleological assumptions of the inexorable rise of democracy being vindicated – or does much of the evident point in just the opposite direction? The module will examine the nature of transitions (and attempted transitions) to more open political systems in Southeast Asia, with a primary focus on Burma, Indonesia, and Thailand. After a brief review of the three cases, the course will adopt a thematic approach, first reviewing the character of the state, including national mythologies, the military and the relations between capital city and provinces. It will then explore aspects of transition, including the changing political economy, the rise of electoral politics, the role of religion and media, and the phenomenon of rally politics. Challenges to national elites from the regions will also be closely scrutinised. These themes and issues have a broader relevance to wider debates in comparative politics, which students will be encouraged to explore in their papers.
POLS GU4474Politics, Justice and Human Rights in Southeast Asia4
The course starts from the premise that questions of justice are essentially political, and their study cannot be safely left in the sole hands of lawyers and legal experts. In recent years, a number of important global trends have become evident in the study of justice. These include a growing focus on transitional justice – especially how the transition from an authoritarian regime, or from conditions of violent conflict, may best be handled. Another important trend is the so-called ‘new constitutionalism’ – efforts to strengthen checks and balances through establishing new institutions such as constitutional courts. A third trend concerns disturbing developments in the use of the criminal justice system for essentially political purposes. This course will explore how these recent trends are being played out in various parts of Southeast Asia.
At the crossroads of three continents, the Middle East is home to many diverse peoples, with ancient and proud cultures, in varying stages of political and socio-economic development, often in conflict. Following the Arab Spring and subsequent upheaval in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and more, the region is in a state of historic flux. The Sunni-Shia rivalry, especially between Saudi Arabia and Iran, growing Iranian-Israeli conflict, population explosion, poverty and authoritarian control, Russian ascendance and US retrenchment, are the primary regional drivers today. Together, these factors have transformed the Middle Eastern landscape, with great consequence for the national security of the countries of the region and their foreign relations. The primary source of the worlds energy resources, the Middle East remains the locus of the terror-WMD-fundamentalist nexus, which continues to pose a significant threat to both regional and international security. The course surveys the national security challenges facing the regions primary players (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinians and Turkey,) and how the convolutions of recent years have affected them. Unlike many Middle East courses, which focus on US policy in the region, the course concentrates on the regional players perceptions of the threats and opportunities they face and the strategies they have adopted to deal with them. It thus provides an essential vantage point for those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of a region, which stands at the center of many of the foreign policy issues of our era. The course is designed for those with a general interest in the Middle East, especially those interested in national security issues, students of comparative politics and future practitioners, with an interest in real world international relations and national security
Civil wars have become the predominant type of conflict in recent years and decades, as exemplified by the civil wars in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Yemen, among others. Invariably, these civil wars feature insurgencies, i.e., organized, protracted politico-military struggles designed to weaken control and legitimacy of an established government, occupying power, or other political authority, while increasing insurgent control. The purpose of this course is to examine the causes, nature, and termination of civil wars and the insurgencies that characterize them. Special emphasis is placed on the conduct of civil wars—the nature of insurgency and counterinsurgency (COIN). The course offers different theoretical perspectives and provides historical and contemporary case studies.
This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will examine Beijing's relations with the Soviet Union, the United States, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Third World during the Cold War, and will discuss Chinese foreign policy in light of the end of the Cold War, changes in the Chinese economy in the reform era, the post-Tiananmen legitimacy crisis in Beijing, and the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond. This lecture course will analyze the causes and consequences of Beijing's foreign policies from 1949 to the present.
